


The Early Bird Gets the Worm

by Yarniac



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27299281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yarniac/pseuds/Yarniac
Summary: It's time again for Lance and Gwen's famous Halloween party(basically just Merlin and Arthur being fluffy boyfriends)
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 83





	The Early Bird Gets the Worm

“Merlin, you can’t be serious.” Arthur did not look impressed.

Merlin had announced a few weeks ago that he was going to be the one to pick the costumes for Gwen and Lance’s famous Halloween party this year. Of course, he had insisted on keeping them secret until the day of.

Arthur looked back and forth from the pink sleeping bag in his hands to Merlin’s sheepish face. He could not believe this. They were going as the early bird and the worm. And _he_ was the worm.

“Oh come on, Arthur. It’s cute.” Merlin smiled up at him, his eyes crinkling around the edges and causing Arthur’s heart to melt a little. He grunted out a gruff _fine_ , rolled his eyes and snatched up the “costume”, walking into their bedroom.

Figuring he’d be pretty warm in the sleeping bag, he decided to wear only a pair of shorts and a t-shirt underneath. As he looked for the zip on the side, he noticed that Merlin had actually modified the sleeping bag. He’d removed the main zip, but installed a smaller zip on either side of the bag to act as optional arm-holes. He’d also cut off and hemmed the bottom. Arthur couldn’t help but admire his boyfriend’s work. He had watched Merlin work with sleeping bags before. It had been a week full of Merlin cursing the very existence of the things as he struggled to tame the slippery, puffy fabric.

Arthur unzipped the “arm holes” and decided to enter through the bottom, pulling the sleeping bag over his head. When he was done, he caught sight of himself in the mirror. He looked… ridiculous. A bright pink worm with arms. He snorted and pulled the hood strings a little tighter so it wouldn’t fall down.

Merlin came in a few minutes later and leaned against the dresser, taking in the sight before him. He was quite obviously trying not to laugh. Arthur took in the costume his boyfriend was wearing.

Merlin had created a three layered, sleeveless shirt, each layer a different color of red, yellow, and blue. Each layer had been trimmed into alternating spikes, giving the illusion of plumage. Attached to the back of the shirt, just below the collar, were wings. Made of similar colors to the body of the shirt, each of the six layers had been cut to resemble feathers. The wings stretched the width of Merlin’s own arm span, the tips connected to red bands worn around each wrist. Contrasting the bright colours of the outfit were a pair of black skinny jeans.

Merlin was also holding a bright yellow beak that he could settle over his nose, with a thin elastic string to keep the beak in place. Arthur had to admit, the whole costume was adorable.

“Just so you know, I’m only agreeing to wear this because it seems like making these costumes was a lot of work,” Arthur said. What he wasn’t going to tell Merlin, was that he thought going as the early bird and the worm actually was quite a cute idea.

* * *

Lance came from a rich family, affording himself and Gwen the luxury of such a big house. Despite that, they still managed to be, sometimes sickeningly, nice people. They frequently made donations and volunteered and did all the nice things they could.

Arthur could already hear the faint beat of “Thriller” coming from the house as they walked up the driveway. The outside of the house had been decorated with what seemed like every Halloween decoration in existence. Pumpkins and witches and colourful lights and cats and spiderwebs and so much more. It looked like the very incarnation of Halloween had thrown up all over their house.

Arthur made quick, shuffling steps in the sleeping bag, struggling to keep up with Merlin who had full use of his legs. Merlin noticed his boyfriend’s struggles and sniggered, before changing his pace so that Arthur could keep up.

There were multiple decorations along the driveway that had motion sensors and were shouting their various Halloweeny catch phrases or creepy songs, or even just screams. As Arthur looked at a pumpkin that had just shouted ‘trick or treat!’ at him, his chest filled with warmth and excitement at seeing his friends and having a good time.

Arriving at the door, they were met with a variety of novelty doorbells to choose from. Merlin pressed down the wart on a witch’s nose and a loud cackling sound could be heard coming from her little speaker.

Within three seconds, the door was yanked wide open and Gwen stood there, dressed as half of an avocado. Arthur bit back his surprise burst of laughter at the sight.

As soon as she saw who it was, she squealed a little and threw her arms around Merlin. No one could ever beat Gwen’s excitement when it came to holidays. She let go of Merlin and turned to Arthur. He saw the moment she took in his costume. Her eyes widened and a hand flew to her mouth as she tried her hardest not to dissolve into a fit of giggles.

“Nice costume,” she managed, looking him up and down. Arthur thought that was a bit rich coming from half an avocado. She looked back at Merlin, studiously trying to figure out what on earth they were dressed as. Then it clicked. She gasped and brought her hands together over her chest.

“Oh my- The early bird and the worm!” She squealed, “That is so cute! Wow, Merlin, did you make the costumes again this year?” Merlin nodded.

Gwen ushered them into the house where most of the guests had already arrived. They paused for a moment and took in everyone’s costumes. It seemed like everyone had come in a couple’s costume this year, even if they weren’t in a couple.

Arthur saw Morgana and Leon first and promptly choked. Morgana was dressed as a “sexy” Cruella de Vil. Leon was a puppy. With a collar. It was attached to a lead that Morgana was holding. Arthur couldn’t help but think that this costume would be better suited in a fetish club rather than a fancy dress party.

He noticed Gwaine and Percival next, who had chosen to be Adam and Eve. They were both wearing what looked like speedos made of leaves. Gwaine had a matching leaf bra with his. He was also carrying an apple around, but Arthur couldn’t be sure if that was part of the costume or just Gwaine and his love for apples.

Daegal and Mordred caught his eye next. Though they weren’t a romantic couple, they’d still come in complimenting costumes which Arthur thought were oddly suitable to their personalities. Mordred had dressed as the devil with Daegal playing the part of an angel. At that moment, Mordred was trying his best to skewer a cupcake with his pitchfork so that he wouldn’t have to stand up to get it. After a few failed attempts of just knocking it over, Daegal rolled his eyes, got up and fetched it for him.

Elyan had come with his new girlfriend Mithian. While their relationship was relatively new, nobody could deny the connection they already had. There were already bets on an engagement, including which one would do the proposing and when. Personally, Arthur thought it would still be a few years until they got there, but that they probably would.

Elyan had been painted in gold symbols and adorned with golden jewellery. He had contrasted the gold on his arms and face by wearing black clothes also painted with gold symbols. Mithian stood beside him, decked head to toe in silver. They were a beautifully striking couple, Arthur made a mental note to go ask what they were meant to be later.

The last ones to be spotted were Vivian and Elena, who were already in the corner mauling the face off each other. He couldn’t quite make out what Vivian was meant to be, but judging from the fact that Elena was covered top to bottom in yellow as well as a pair of black tipped ears and a lightning shaped tail, Arthur could probably safely assume that she was Pikachu. That meant Vivian was probably Ash. His suspicions were confirmed when Vivian’s hat fell off of her head and landed so that the recognisable green symbol was facing him.

They made their way through the small crowd, making conversation. At some point, Arthur split from Merlin and headed over to the table in the corner to find something to eat. He grabbed himself a cupcake and half joined, half listened in on Elyan and Leon’s conversation, catching snippets of things like “torque” and “kilometers to the gallon” and “safety ratings.” 

Arthur came back from the table in the corner with a lemonade, resigning himself to his role as designated driver. Growing a bit tired of shuffling around, he sat down on the couch and pulled the warm hood of his sleeping bag down off his head. He engaged in some conversation with the others who were sitting around, but he mostly just listened.

He looked up and spotted Merlin having an animated conversation with Elena across the room. He took a moment to just let himself be filled up with all of the love he had for Merlin. It was all-consuming sometimes, the amount of _love_ and admiration he held for his boyfriend. Sometimes it flooded his chest and left no room for air in his lungs.

Merlin glanced over and caught his eye. He flashed a small grin and went back to his conversation. Arthur couldn’t put into words how beautiful Merlin was to him. It was partially his physical fae-like appearance. But Arthur loved the way his eyes lit up when he was excited, or how clumsy he was. Merlin could be unbelievably sexy when he wanted to be. And often when he didn’t even mean to. His goofy personality and just everything that made him _Merlin_. That’s what made Arthur fall in love with him.

Arthur was so lost in his love-struck daydream, now thinking about how ridiculously cute Merlin was with his beak and flapping his wings, that he didn’t even notice that Merlin had walked over until he slid comfortably into Arthur’s lap. He sat sideways over Arthur’s legs and draped an arm comfortably over Arthur’s shoulders. His eyes were already beginning to droop and he rested his cheek onto the back of the couch, his nose burying itself in Arthur’s hair. Or it would have, if he didn’t have a big beak on his face. 

“Hello,” Arthur murmured quietly, turning his head to face him. He placed his cup on the side table, reached over and pulled the beak down so that Merlin was wearing it as more of a necklace. He slipped his arms around Merlin, holding him close.

“Hi,” Merlin mumbled back. He looked up at Arthur and smiled, eyes sparkling when Arthur smiled back. Merlin then yawned in a way that was so cute it should be illegal.

He wrapped his arms around Arthur’s shoulders and buried his face in his neck, moving his legs so that he was straddling Arthur. Keeping his face pressed into Arthur’s neck, he reminded Arthur of a sleepy kitten.

No matter how outgoing and friendly Merlin was on the outside, going out and social gatherings like this always tired him out. Arthur leaned forward and let his own forehead rest on Merlin’s shoulder. He closed his eyes and just let himself enjoy the sleepy comforting warmth that radiated from his boyfriend.

Arthur was half asleep when he heard the loud click of someone taking a photo. He raised his head and looked blearily around. Gwaine was standing above them with a big grin on his face. 

“Oh look who’s awake. I know you’re not inclined to be the life of the party, but maybe you two sleepy lovebirds could wake up a bit, we’re about to watch Scream.” Before Arthur could get a chance to do anything, Gwaine interrupted again, snapping his fingers out in front of him, “Wait! Love _birds_. Bird! like Merlin’s costume! That one wasn’t even intentional.” With a self-satisfied smirk, Gwaine walked off.

Arthur straightened up and blinked his eyes in an effort to clear them. He could feel Merlin breathing softly into his neck, almost certainly fast asleep. He removed one of his arms from around Merlin, silently mourning the loss of comfortable warmth, and shook Merlin’s shoulder lightly.

“Hey,” he whispered, “hey wake up, M. It’s movie time.” Merlin just buried his face deeper into the crook of Arthur’s neck and sniffled a bit. Seeing as Merlin probably wasn’t going to wake himself up, Arthur decided to just carry him.

“Wrap your legs around me, yeah?” was the only warning he gave before rising to his feet, bringing Merlin up with him. Merlin’s arms tightened around his neck and his legs wrapped firmly around his waist. It wasn’t really much of a struggle to carry Merlin, skinny little thing that he was. Not to mention that he’d had quite a bit of practice being in a position quite similar to this. Granted, their position now was a lot less… Well, you get the picture.

He carried Merlin into the next room where a big TV was mounted above a mantelpiece. Around the room were various plush couches, beanbags, and armchairs. It really was quite a comfortable space.

Arthur picked one of the big armchairs and sat down with Merlin still attached to him. He nudged him a bit so that he rearranged himself, curling sideways across Arthur’s lap. At least with him sideways again, Arthur could actually see the movie. 

Once everyone was settled, Lance pressed play. Mordred and Daegal really were taking this ‘pretending to be a couple’ thing pretty far. They were tangled together on a beanbag in the corner, and Mordred had loudly proclaimed that Daegal could hold his hand if he was scared. Honestly, Arthur was starting to wander if they were even pretending at all. 

They were watching Scream which, naturally, had its fair share of jumpscares. Each time it happened, Merlin’s whole body tensed and he clung on to Arthur’s shoulders for dear life. Of course, Arthur wasn’t immune to the scares, though Merlin had never really been a fan of horror movies at all. The only time Merlin ever really watched them was at the halloween party every year. Or, when Arthur managed to convince him, which happened very rarely and involved a _lot_ of bribery.

After the movie finished, they decided that it was time for some games. Wii games. They always ended up having a Wii tournament whenever Gwen and Lance threw a party, it was a tradition at this point. As per said tradition, they started with Mario Kart.

Ever since the movie had finished, Merlin had melted back into his previous state. His face was back in Arthur’s neck and he was all soft and relaxed. Arthur kissed his cheek and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Are you up for the games, or do you want to sit them out this time?” 

Merlin pulled back a bit and blinked up at Arthur. 

“I think I’d probably end up falling asleep,” Merlin huffed out a small laugh, “I wouldn’t want to tarnish my great winner’s reputation by losing because I conked out mid game.” Arthur snorted.

“Get comfortable then, you dork. I think I’ll sit them out this time, too, and just watch.” Arthur relaxed back and let Merlin adjust himself to a comfortable position. Merlin ended up curled into Arthur’s chest with his feet propped up on the arm of the armchair. He wrapped his arms around Arthur’s waist this time, and tucked his head under Arthur’s.

Arthur wrapped his own arms around Merlin’s shoulders and pressed a small kiss into his dark curls. He rested his head lightly on top of Merlin’s, shaking it slightly as Elyan caught his eye and silently gestured towards the TV with a remote and a raised brow. Elyan’s eyes flicked down to the sleepy kitten who was Merlin, he grinned and rolled his eyes good-naturedly, shrugging his shoulders and raising his brows as if to say ‘your loss, mate’.

For the next while, Arthur enjoyed watching his sister absolutely crush everybody at Mario Kart. Morgana was an extremely competitive person, and quite scary as well, when she got invested in a game. There had been more than one incident of Morgana showing up to Lance and Gwen’s after a party with a new remote to replace one that she’d broken.

After a while, the group moved on from Mario to Just Dance. Just Dance is where _Elena_ of all people shines brightest. The usually extremely clumsy and uncoordinated woman was nearly unbeatable at the game. No one knew how she got so many perfect moves. Usually, the only person who even had the slightest chance of beating her, was Arthur himself. Which was also quite surprising, since anyone who had witnessed him on any kind of dancefloor would tell you that his dancing skills left a lot to be desired.

They played a few more games after that, but Arthur had stopped paying attention. He was content in the corner with his warmth and his Merlin. He checked the time on his watch. Seeing that it was nearing half one, and Merlin was already asleep anyway, Arthur decided it was time to go home.

“M,” he tapped at Merlin’s cheek, “M, babe, come on, wake up for a second so we can get you home.” Merlin grumbled a bit, but eventually stood up, stretching and yawning as he did so. Finished with his stretch, he wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to retain some lost warmth. 

Arthur looked up and caught Gwen’s eye on the other side of the room. He gestured to Merlin, before slipping an arm around him, and tilted his head towards the door, signalling that they were leaving. Gwen slipped away from the wall and made her way over to them.

“Had enough of us?” She laughed. 

“As much as I’d love to stay for a sleepover, I think Merlin’s back will thank me for putting it in an actual bed and not the chair.” Merlin made a vague grunt of agreement, resting his cheek idly on Arthur’s shoulder. Gwen smiled and walked them to the door, giving them both a kiss on the cheek, before letting them go.

Walking out to the car, Arthur reached into Merlin’s back pocket and pulled out the keys. He unlocked the car and made sure Merlin got in, before crossing over to his own side and getting in.

“I know it’s relatively unlikely that we’ll end up crashing, but you _do_ still need to put your seatbelt on, love.” Merlin blinked his eyes open to look up at Arthur.

“Don’t want to move,” he grumbled, “do it for me?” Arthur rolled his eyes and snorted. He reached over and buckled Merlin in with a muttered _lazy sod_. Merlin just smiled in his direction, eyes closed again.

A short drive later they arrived home. 

Arthur got them inside and carried Merlin to their bedroom. As soon as Merlin hit the mattress, he curled himself up again, not even bothering to get under the blankets. Arthur went to lock the front door and when he returned, he found that Merlin had sat himself up. He had also put his beak back in place. Arthur raised a brow in question. Merlin raised his arms a bit and flapped lazily. 

“Lemme be a bird for a few more minutes before you rip my feathers from me,” Merlin yawned. Arthur laughed and pulled the sleeping bag up over his head, tossing it to a corner to be dealt with in the morning.

“That’s a bit dramatic, M, I’m not ripping anything.” Merlin flopped back on the mattress and pulled a hand over his heart. “My feathers!” He exclaimed dramatically, before dissolving into a fit of giggles. Arthur snorted at his antics, walking over and holding a hand out.

“C’mon, get up so I can strip you and we can finally go to sleep properly.” Merlin grabbed his hand and let himself be pulled to his feet. “Strip me?” He wrapped his arms around Arthur’s shoulders, “how gentlemanly of you.” 

Merlin went in for a kiss, and promptly poked Arthur right in the face with his bright yellow beak. Merlin blushed and put his head on Arthur’s shoulder as he giggled. 

“I love you, you weird idiot,” Arthur laughed, taking Merlin’s face in his hands and removing the offending yellow object. Once the beak was removed, they could kiss properly. After a while, Merlin broke away from their kiss to pepper smaller kisses all over Arthur’s face. Between each little kiss, Merlin was muttering _peck, peck, peck, peck_.

“What are you…?” 

“I’m a bird Arthur.” Merlin said this as if it was obvious, “birds peck, see?” He then proceeded to launch, what Arthur could only call a ‘peck attack’ on him. Arthur laughed as he suffered Merlin’s peck attack.

“Ok, ok,” Arthur laughed, “you’re a very nice bird, with very nice feathers and very nice pecks, but you’re also a very tired bird who needs to sleep, and not in jeans.”

“Fine,” Merlin held his arms out, “strip me, then.” Arthur snorted and got to work. 

Finally, after brushing their teeth and switching off the lights, they were back in bed. Merlin had his head pillowed on Arthur’s chest, with an arm and a leg slung lazily over him. 

“That was fun,” Merlin mumbled.

“We didn’t do much,” Arthur pointed out, “you were asleep most of the time.”

“It was still fun.” 

Arthur hummed in agreement. 

“I wonder what I’ll dress you up as next year.”

**Author's Note:**

> ayy  
> a last minute Halloween fic  
> or, as far as you know, right on time  
> This fic would be much more shit if I didn't have [ mother_of_lions](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mother_of_lions) to beta for me, so I hope you're thanking her silently in your brain rn as you read this


End file.
